Month: March 2017
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30th March 2017 – Uphill and Sand Bay
The whole purpose of this blog is to show that it’s not always as easy as you would hope. I went to Uphill to look for the Short-eared Owl that I had seen earlier in the month with two other keen birders. 3 pairs of eyes and we were bound to get some good sightings.…
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28th March 2017 – Chew Valley & Blagdon
Although there was bright sunshine as I drove through Bristol as soon as I arrived in the Chew Valley it was misty and murky and rather mystical. At Herons Green I saw a flock 30 or more Sand Martin chasing the masses of flies but they soon disappeared. There were plenty of Tufted Ducks, Pied Wagtail…
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26th March 2017 – RSPB Ham Wall
Great to hear the Bitterns booming at RSPB Ham Wall and even better to get such a great view of a Bittern. There was a chill wind when we arrived but with the warmth of the sun it soon dissipated enough for us to have our picnic al fresco. There was an early sighting of…
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24th March 2017 – Severnside
Not what I was looking for on a cold and gloomy morning! At Aust I was looking for Short-eared Owls but only saw a Meadow Pipit. At New Passage I was particularly looking for Little Ringed Plovers but only saw (of note) a Merlin, 2 Little Grebe, 12 Redshank, a flock of 30 Turnstone and…
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14th March 2017 – Chew Valley Lake
Very blustery and quite dull at Chew Valley Lake today. The best was seeing Goldeneye displaying by throwing their heads right back. Great Crested Grebe are looking attractive as they come in to breeding plumage. Lots of Tufted Ducks and all sorts of Gulls (which I need to get to grips with). The Mute Swans…
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12th March 2017 – Uphill
We went to Uphill to look for a Short-eared Owl which has been reported there in the last few weeks. Initially we had no luck and so I started taking some poor photos of Redshank. However, we could see the rain coming in so we headed back to the car. At the last moment we caught…
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10th March 2017 – New Passage
At first there didn’t seem to be a lot about (or as the tide was low not close enough for me to see) so I walked through to Aust. It was surprisingly mild and, although I didn’t take many photos, it was a good walk. The best birds were probably the Kestrel near Aust and…
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8th March 2017 – Snuff Mills
It was supposed to be heavy rain but the sun was shining so we went for a walk through Snuff Mills (expecting the worse). As it turned out we got the whole way round without a drop of rain. We regularly saw 2 Grey Wagtails all along the valley. Perhaps there were more but I…
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6th March 2017 – Eastville Park
A brief walk around the lake in Eastville Park this afternoon. The Mallards are quite interesting at the moment as they change their plumage. A Grey Wagtail (ISO 20,000!) fishing up the stream that flows in to the River Frome in Eastville Park. A failed effort from the Grey Heron. Desperate for a photo I…
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5th March 2017 – Chew Valley Lake
A wet and windy morning at Chew Valley Lake. We had drunk our flask of coffee at our first stop and then took refuge in Stratford Hide to get out of the wind. The water in the lake is now very high so there was no sign of the Jack Snipe I had seen on my…
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